


Stardust

by orphan_account



Series: Fullmetal Fortnight 2014 [7]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: I just write so much about the FMA ladies that somehow figuring out a specific thing to write about, Meta, Prompt Fic, Ramblings, ish? It's not really meta., musings, was really difficult.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 11:04:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1302553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s a secret knowledge passed down from mother to daughter, from sister to sister, from female friend to female friend in hushed whispers and warm touches.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> Written for FMA Week 2014. Prompt 4: "Ladies' Day". One day doesn't cover my love for the ladies of FMA, and I could not possibly cover them all, so take this snippet and HAPPY LADIES' DAY YA DINGUSES. Go show off some lady lovin'.
> 
> Goodness, this is the fourth fic I've uploaded today. I need to slow down. Damn FMA Week.
> 
> Unbeta'd/unedited due to length. Enjoy!

It’s a secret knowledge passed down from mother to daughter, from sister to sister, from female friend to female friend in hushed whispers and warm touches.

Trisha Elric stands her ground, manifests both a waiting love in the wedding ring she keeps despite the grief within the golden loop and a rational practicality in the wedding ring she removes despite the dedication within the same gold loop. In turn Pinako Rockbell, the Pantheress of Resembool, teaches her granddaughter to craft automail as strong and beautiful as human life, and to keep human life as strong and beautiful as the automail she crafts; Winry takes the train to Central and learns not only the apple pie but also the strength and courage to face loss from Gracia Hughes. Elicia shows the world innocence and also hope, and Winry pools that identical hope in her palms with which to baptise Paninya as the daughter of the LeCoultes contributes the innocence for the same. Satella brings the knowledge of childbirth and the wisdom of a mother’s love. Paninya reminds Winry she need not conform to the mould that society presents her, and Winry smashes the mould apart with an automail forge and puts it back together in her tears.

Riza Hawkeye lies down beside Maria Ross to indicate the proper way to hold a gun; Maria Ross stands apart from Riza Hawkeye to indicate the proper way to hold one’s head no matter what false accusations might arise from those who cannot comprehend her strengths. Rebecca Catalina celebrates the feminine and takes men every night without the slightest mar on her being; Hawkeye celebrates the masculine and remains disinclined in that field without the slightest mar on hers.

Lan Fan carries the weight of responsibility upon her shoulders and the ability to growth beyond oneself, from rage to questioning to acceptance, the same route through which Winry herself has gone. Winry moulds automail, black and jewelled and powerful, and Lan Fan, grateful as she is, returns to her heritage, reminding Winry of her own. Mei upholds tradition in the braids of alkahestry upon her back—braids akin to those worn by another female alchemist—and a weight equally heavy on her back. Where Lan Fan understands tightening her family ties, Mei understands finding her family abroad; where Lan Fan teaches selflessness and the power hidden within sacrifice, Mei teaches selfishness and the charity hidden within avarice. Both learn one another, and from one another, peace.

When Olivier Mira Armstrong appears from Briggs she smashes the door on the emotionlessness of rationality and on the senior staff’s doorstep in the same moment. Izumi Curtis demonstrates the rogue alchemist method of kicking ass from here to kingdom come and the housewife method of kicking expectations from here to kingdom come as well, of how to break away from the raw might of the military or of solitude without sacrificing an iota of power. Riza Hawkeye hints at the lack of shame in protecting someone one loves, and Winry Rockbell Izumi Curtis, like Lan Fan, gives up parts of herself for those _she_ loves and comes away stronger for it.

And each of those mere tiny slices of their lives and meetings and reunions, of their deaths and departures and farewells. The world is built by the hands of women, and by the hands of women their lives are built as well in sweet solidarity of love and understanding and protection and a sharp belief that one another deserves the world and beyond.

And the secret? That they are made of starstuff, condensed to the dewdrop soul. That they shine more brightly than any star in the sky. That they, like the stars, are not alone.


End file.
